I am applying for grad school.
It's so terrifying to say outloud. But I am. That's what I plan to do next year. A Master's degree in Classical Archaeology.
I have to get a few things together in order to do this. I need a thesis proposal, references and an academic CV. Today, I talked to my 4th year seminar professor about being one of my references, and he said yes. So that's one step. I also plan to ask the professor I'm TAing for.
I'm not sure if I'm going to get in. Most of the schools I'm applying to are in the UK, and they take the classics a lot more seriously over there. My marks are okay, but not stunning. My resume, I hope, is impressive. Most of my experience goes with my journalism degree, but I also have museum experience, and TAing experience. I hope those will help me seem more qualified.
I'm also really hoping that my journalism degree will work for me. Technically, I feel like proof that I can communicate as well as research, write, understand and interpret history will be something that I can bring that not many applicants can.
I'm just not sure that the universities will feel that way. And that having done two degrees will actually be mark against me. Because a lot of my time is spent on journalism, I don't do as well in my Classics classes as I could. Because I'm doing a combined honours, I don't have as many credits in Classics as I would, and I definitely don't have the language credits I should.
When I applied for my undergrad, I knew I was going to get in. My marks in high school were in the top range, and that's pretty much all they looked at. From that, I got early acceptance and a scholarship.
Now, I think I'm just one in a thousand similar candidates. And not even in the top range. The only hope I have is to make my thesis and resume stand out. On top of that, to go to school in the UK is VERY expensive for international students. Not only would my tuition be about 9000 pounds a year, but I also have to move and live there. In order to avoid getting a $20,000 student line of credit, I'd like to get a scholarship to at least cover my tuition. There are lots of scholarships available, particularly for Commonwealth citizens. But am I good enough to get them...?
All of this is incredibly scary, and all of this has to be done this month, over the Christmas break. Because it's due at the end of January and I'm on overload next semester.
On a slightly more positive note, these are my top schools:
University of Edinburgh - Classical Archaeology (or Classics)
University of London - Classical Archaeology
University of British Columbia - Classical Archaeology
Simon Fraser University - Archaeology, Creative Writing
University of Ottawa - Classics
University of Leicester - Classical Mediterranean (Archaeology and History)
University of York - Historical Archaeology, Field Archaeology
University of Glasgow - Classical Archaeology and Ancient History
Newcastle University - Greek and Roman Archaeology
My favourites are University of Leicester (45 mins from London), University of Glasgow (where I get to do history as well as Archaeology) and the University of Edinburgh (one of my favourite cities EVER).
But on top of everything else, if I do get in I have to move to a completely different country all by myself and that's terrifying.
I don't want to grow up.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Ahhh
I haven't been able to breathe since the beginning of October. Every time I think my "stressful week" is over, there's another stressful week.
I would say I want it to be December, but I have a whole credit of Canadian History to do in December, and I have to apply for grad school.
I think I am being eaten by school.
I would say I want it to be December, but I have a whole credit of Canadian History to do in December, and I have to apply for grad school.
I think I am being eaten by school.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Infinite Wisdom of Harriet Rose
The Infinite Wisdom of Harriet Rose: My first "meh" review. Chick lit that tries to be deep.
It wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't a great one either. I like the idea that they're trying to bring things like philosophy into a chick lit style. I liked that the character of Harriet Rose was very imperfect. But the style was very basic and the plot was sort of anti-climatic.
Favourite line:
"Heraclitus famously said that we cannot step into the same river twice. Everything, that is, is in constant change. Nothing remains the same. By the time I have reached the end of my talk to you, I shall be a different person from the one who began it."
It wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't a great one either. I like the idea that they're trying to bring things like philosophy into a chick lit style. I liked that the character of Harriet Rose was very imperfect. But the style was very basic and the plot was sort of anti-climatic.
Favourite line:
"Heraclitus famously said that we cannot step into the same river twice. Everything, that is, is in constant change. Nothing remains the same. By the time I have reached the end of my talk to you, I shall be a different person from the one who began it."
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
And I said he-ey-ey, what's going on?
Even (or especially..) when I'm wasting too much time playing Boggle and throwing gum around the apartment, I love my roommates. <3
Monday, November 10, 2008
Versus Cat
If you have a cat, or have ever lived with a cat, you'll understand.
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/animals/Timelapse_Man_Vs_Cat/
I personally like towards the end when the cat attacks his head.
On another note, a timelapse of my attempt at "sleeping" last night would have included a lot of staring at the ceiling. I couldn't shut my brain off. I'm drowning in work right now... Grr. Argh.
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/animals/Timelapse_Man_Vs_Cat/
I personally like towards the end when the cat attacks his head.
On another note, a timelapse of my attempt at "sleeping" last night would have included a lot of staring at the ceiling. I couldn't shut my brain off. I'm drowning in work right now... Grr. Argh.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
How to...
I have a "Daily How-to" feed on my iGoogle. This one caught my eye, and I wanted to share it.
How to Live in the Moment
WikiHow, like all WikiSites, is awesome. You can honestly learn anything from this site. Some of the how-tos are badly done, but some are priceless. While you're at it, check out How To Get Closure or How To Look like Sarah Palin (or anything else on the featured articles sidebar).
How to Live in the Moment
WikiHow, like all WikiSites, is awesome. You can honestly learn anything from this site. Some of the how-tos are badly done, but some are priceless. While you're at it, check out How To Get Closure or How To Look like Sarah Palin (or anything else on the featured articles sidebar).
Friday, November 7, 2008
The Fire Gospel
The Fire Gospel was a must read for me for two reasons: 1) It's by Michael Faber, who wrote The Crimson Petal and the White, one of my favourite books and 2) It's the newest book in the Myth series that I love so much.
It's based on the myth of Prometheus giving fire to man. Loosely based, I'd say, since the links aren't too obvious - but that's not really a bad thing.
The premise for the novel is that Theo has found these secret fifth gospel while in a museum in Iraq. This fifth gospel essentially emphasizes that Jesus was very human when he died on the cross. When Theo translates the gospel from Aramaic, the book sells like wild fire. And, as the book's jacket says, "Like Prometheus' gift of fire, it has incendiary consequences."
This book was very plot driven, easy to read. Which is different from most of the myth series books I've read so far, like Weight, The Helmet of Horror or Girl Meets Boy. I do love all these books which are suddenly taking re-thinking the bible as a theme (I haven't read DaVince Code.. but the newest Jodi Picoult book talks about the Gnostic Gospels).
I'll say that the book wasn't what I was expecting, thinking about the Crimson Petal and the White, and also based on the other myth books. But it was still pretty good. I really like the idea of it, most.
Favourite line:
"And that is our misfortune, brothers and sisters: we speak of things that cannot be spoken. We seek to store understandings in our gross flesh that gross flesh cannot contain, like a madman who would snatch a moonbeam and put it in his purse. We try our best to tell a story, so that others might be led towards Jesus, but Jesus is not a story. He is the end of all stories."
It's based on the myth of Prometheus giving fire to man. Loosely based, I'd say, since the links aren't too obvious - but that's not really a bad thing.
The premise for the novel is that Theo has found these secret fifth gospel while in a museum in Iraq. This fifth gospel essentially emphasizes that Jesus was very human when he died on the cross. When Theo translates the gospel from Aramaic, the book sells like wild fire. And, as the book's jacket says, "Like Prometheus' gift of fire, it has incendiary consequences."
This book was very plot driven, easy to read. Which is different from most of the myth series books I've read so far, like Weight, The Helmet of Horror or Girl Meets Boy. I do love all these books which are suddenly taking re-thinking the bible as a theme (I haven't read DaVince Code.. but the newest Jodi Picoult book talks about the Gnostic Gospels).
I'll say that the book wasn't what I was expecting, thinking about the Crimson Petal and the White, and also based on the other myth books. But it was still pretty good. I really like the idea of it, most.
Favourite line:
"And that is our misfortune, brothers and sisters: we speak of things that cannot be spoken. We seek to store understandings in our gross flesh that gross flesh cannot contain, like a madman who would snatch a moonbeam and put it in his purse. We try our best to tell a story, so that others might be led towards Jesus, but Jesus is not a story. He is the end of all stories."
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Journalism as activism
I went to the Science and Technology Awareness Network conference this morning with my science reporting. We were there to watch the speech of Adam Bly, the creator and editor of Seed magazine. It cost us $25 to go (plus parking) and I was not impressed at having to get up even earlier and get downtown for it.
But I honestly really ended up enjoying it. Entirely because of Adam Bly. He gave a very powerful presentation about science globally. He emphasized that everyone should be science literate. All 6.7 billion of us.
This is interesting to me because I don't do science. I don't get it, normally. I will never be a scientist (unless maybe you count an archaeologist). But the truth is that science effects everything. It's the reason life is so different from the way it was just a hundred years ago. We have learned more about the world in the last hundred years than humans had since the beginning of civilization. Science is important to me, even though I'm not doing it.
The other thing he talked about reminded me, for the first time in a long time, the reason I went into journalism in the first place. He has this ideal of journalism being the vehicle for change. He won't accept less than perfect from his publication. It isn't lazy journalism, deadlnie journalism, where you write shit 364 days of the year, and write one good story one day. It's not tired journalism.
Adam Bly said journalism, for him, is activism. And that's why I used to want to be a journalist. To make a difference. But four years of j-school have taught me to expect the media to be mediocre. To expect that as a journalist I could never change the world.
I don't want to be a journalist, because there are too many things wrong with journalism right now, and I don't have the energy to change it. I know that makes me a bit of a coward, but I'll leave change in the hands of people like Adam Bly and Barack Obama, to create "a world connected by science and imagination."
But I honestly really ended up enjoying it. Entirely because of Adam Bly. He gave a very powerful presentation about science globally. He emphasized that everyone should be science literate. All 6.7 billion of us.
This is interesting to me because I don't do science. I don't get it, normally. I will never be a scientist (unless maybe you count an archaeologist). But the truth is that science effects everything. It's the reason life is so different from the way it was just a hundred years ago. We have learned more about the world in the last hundred years than humans had since the beginning of civilization. Science is important to me, even though I'm not doing it.
The other thing he talked about reminded me, for the first time in a long time, the reason I went into journalism in the first place. He has this ideal of journalism being the vehicle for change. He won't accept less than perfect from his publication. It isn't lazy journalism, deadlnie journalism, where you write shit 364 days of the year, and write one good story one day. It's not tired journalism.
Adam Bly said journalism, for him, is activism. And that's why I used to want to be a journalist. To make a difference. But four years of j-school have taught me to expect the media to be mediocre. To expect that as a journalist I could never change the world.
I don't want to be a journalist, because there are too many things wrong with journalism right now, and I don't have the energy to change it. I know that makes me a bit of a coward, but I'll leave change in the hands of people like Adam Bly and Barack Obama, to create "a world connected by science and imagination."
What's in a name?
I'm thinking about changing my name.
I think names are very important. I think they create a part of who we are - they are the language with which we identify ourselves and each other. I think last names say where you came from, how you're linked to your past. Some people might not fee this way about their name, but I do. I've always said I'm not going to change my name when I marry. This is, in part, because I plan to already have an established career when I get married, which would make changing my name a nuisance. But it's also because I feel like changing my name would say that I'm changing myself. I'm not just going to be Mrs. SuchandSuch. I was Heather Montgomery for the first 25-odd years of my life, why should I be someone different after?
That's how I feel about names, in general.
My mom never changed her last name, something I've always respected. My mom is still a Francis. But the other day it struck me that while I fee very connected to my mom's parents and to the Francis side of my family, I'm not a Francis.
So, I'm thinking of changing my name to Heather Catherine Francis Montgomery. Not hypenated. My name, in any relevant way, would still be Heather Montgomery. But my full name would include my mom's family name.
I don't know how to make a decision like this. Is it just silly? Should I actually legally change my name or is that too much hassle?
I think names are very important. I think they create a part of who we are - they are the language with which we identify ourselves and each other. I think last names say where you came from, how you're linked to your past. Some people might not fee this way about their name, but I do. I've always said I'm not going to change my name when I marry. This is, in part, because I plan to already have an established career when I get married, which would make changing my name a nuisance. But it's also because I feel like changing my name would say that I'm changing myself. I'm not just going to be Mrs. SuchandSuch. I was Heather Montgomery for the first 25-odd years of my life, why should I be someone different after?
That's how I feel about names, in general.
My mom never changed her last name, something I've always respected. My mom is still a Francis. But the other day it struck me that while I fee very connected to my mom's parents and to the Francis side of my family, I'm not a Francis.
So, I'm thinking of changing my name to Heather Catherine Francis Montgomery. Not hypenated. My name, in any relevant way, would still be Heather Montgomery. But my full name would include my mom's family name.
I don't know how to make a decision like this. Is it just silly? Should I actually legally change my name or is that too much hassle?
Sunday, November 2, 2008
everything must come and go...
Have I ever mentioned how much I adore Regina Spektor?
Again the sun was never called
And darkness spreads over the snow
Like ancient bruises
I'm awake and feel the ache
I'm awake and feel the ache
But I wish I'd see a field below.
Again the sun was never called
And darkness spreads over the snow
Like ancient bruises
I'm awake and feel the ache
I'm awake and feel the ache
But I wish I'd see a field below.
A Complicated Kindness
Book number fourteen, A Complicated Kindness, is a book I've been recommended by many people. I've heard that you either love it (like Kristen) or hate it (like Laura). I loved the beginning and the end, I wasn't sure about the middle. Of course, this could be because I've been reading it for a couple of weeks and therefore the middle was interrupted.
The book is really about being left behind. Physically, emotionally and culturally. I think it's something that anyone can relate to. What I loved most about the book was that the metaphors are so effortless. You'll read a line that's just a line and then realize that she isn't just talking about sand or a road or a piece of chalk, but about life. It's beautiful.
The characters voice is great too. Have the time you think Nomi is insane, the other half your heart aches for her.
The book wasn't what I thought it was going to be, in the best possible way.
Some favourite lines, as per usual:
"I had a thought, on the way home from the rock field, that the things we don't know about a person are the things that make them human, and it made me feel sad to think that, but sad in a reassuring way that some sadness has, a sadness that says welcome home in twelve different languages."
"I folded my hands and pressed the top knuckle joints of my thumbs hard into my forehead. Dear God. I don't know what I want or who I am. Apparently you do. Um... that's great. Never mind. You have a terrible reputation here. You should know that. Oh, but I guess you do know that. Save me now. Or when it's convenient. We could run away together. This is stupid. What am I doing? I guess this is a prayer. I feel like an idiot, but I guess you knew that already, too. My sister said that god is music. Goodbye. Amen. I lay in my bed and waited for that thick, sweet feeling to wash over me, for that unreal semi-conscious state where the story begins and takes on a life of its own and all you have to do is close your eyes and give in and let go and give in and let go and go and go and go."
"I wondered if I could spend my entire life in two gears, neutral and fourth. I was so tired of shuffling."
Again I want to say that Canada is home to some of the worlds best writers. That's all for now.
The book is really about being left behind. Physically, emotionally and culturally. I think it's something that anyone can relate to. What I loved most about the book was that the metaphors are so effortless. You'll read a line that's just a line and then realize that she isn't just talking about sand or a road or a piece of chalk, but about life. It's beautiful.
The characters voice is great too. Have the time you think Nomi is insane, the other half your heart aches for her.
The book wasn't what I thought it was going to be, in the best possible way.
Some favourite lines, as per usual:
"I had a thought, on the way home from the rock field, that the things we don't know about a person are the things that make them human, and it made me feel sad to think that, but sad in a reassuring way that some sadness has, a sadness that says welcome home in twelve different languages."
"I folded my hands and pressed the top knuckle joints of my thumbs hard into my forehead. Dear God. I don't know what I want or who I am. Apparently you do. Um... that's great. Never mind. You have a terrible reputation here. You should know that. Oh, but I guess you do know that. Save me now. Or when it's convenient. We could run away together. This is stupid. What am I doing? I guess this is a prayer. I feel like an idiot, but I guess you knew that already, too. My sister said that god is music. Goodbye. Amen. I lay in my bed and waited for that thick, sweet feeling to wash over me, for that unreal semi-conscious state where the story begins and takes on a life of its own and all you have to do is close your eyes and give in and let go and give in and let go and go and go and go."
"I wondered if I could spend my entire life in two gears, neutral and fourth. I was so tired of shuffling."
Again I want to say that Canada is home to some of the worlds best writers. That's all for now.
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